One local resident is putting it all on the line to bring a family-friendly board game cafe to Beaumont. Derrek Poirier has created a kickstarter campaign with the hopes of raising $10,000 to open the new venture in Beaumont, which would host families

“I have two big passions in life. I love playing games and I love bringing people together,” former accountant Derrek Poirier said. “It’s something that I feel like I have an opportunity to help bring people together, get them away from screens, and talking to each other.”

The resident has been running annual game nights out of his home for the last 14 years, bringing together large crowds around a collection of games that are currently worth a total of more than $5,500. Recently, he began hosting game nights twice a week open to anyone within the community.

“Some nights you have one or two people, last night I just had one person for most of it. And then other nights I’ve had 10 people, and it’s like, oh my goodness, what do I do with 10 people?” he said laughing. “I don’t have a big space, but I’ve got games to accommodate all of that, and we have a few tables, so if people want to split into groups it works.”

Poirier said his real passion for board games developed as he went through some tougher times in his life. The community spirit and connection rallied around the table-top games helped him get through bouts of depression and alcoholism.

“For me, personally, games have helped me a lot in times of darkness. I struggle with depression, I’ve struggled with alcoholism. Getting people around games together has really helped me get out of that,” he said.

“I’ve seen a lot of kids around here need help getting out of dark places. So that’s one thing that I can offer to help them out.”

Poirier wants to make a cafe that is accessible to people of all ages, with a large variety of games that can be played by anyone aged two and up in a friend, inviting atmosphere with a granny-chic motive. The game enthusiast also noted that this would give residents a chance to try out some of the more expensive, lesser-known games before deciding to purchase them.

“It’s different when you’re going out and buying Monopoly, which is $20. But if you’re looking at some of the newer games, they’re $80 to $100. So it’s easier to justify spending $5 to get in, and then play an $80 game and see if you like it,” he said, adding that there will also be opportunities to buy the games from the cafe.

Poirier said that if the Kickstarter campaign fails, he has a backup plan to continue hosting board game nights to raise money to fund the space.

For more information on the project, or to donate to the Kickstarter campaign, which ends at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12, go to http://kck.st/2vQEV3r, or search Derrek Poirier in Google.